KE*A*H** (Psalm 69)

An absolutely excellent foray into industrial metal, and the sheer ridiculousness of Jesus Built My Hot Rod easily puts this at a 5 (though a bit of nostalgia is clouding my judgement, if I’m honest)

Here’s what I know about Ministry: Chester Bennington of Linkin Park honed his vocal stylings as a teen by singing along to Ministry until he sounded like them. That piece of possible-knowledge is interesting, but nowhere near as interesting as listening to Ministry, whose don't give a fuck about nuthin attitude is a tonic in these polarising times. Hell yeah Jerry Lee Lewis was the devil, Jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet, and once you've discovered that and find yourself in love with the world, all you can do is ding-a-ding-dang your dang-a-long-ling-long. Agnostic in every sense: to religion, politics, genre. And unlike the other metallic sludge we've had so far, this bops like the billy-o, is genuinely funny, and isn't saturated with misogyny or dumb machismo.

“ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ (Psalm 69)” by Ministry (1992) In case you’re tempted to think that this is Contemporary Christian thrash metal, think again. The title, “ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ” is a mildly humorous obscenity best left unexplained here, and the alternative title “(Psalm 69)” is no reference to the Bible, but rather to the sexually charged chapter 69 in a book by Aleister Crowley which will likewise remain unnamed. The subtitle is “The way to succeed and the way to suck eggs”. Use your imagination. No, don’t. This album title (along with title track) is one of the more egregious examples of theomockery which was all the rage in the early 1990s. Now don’t get me wrong, mockery has a long and honored pedigree in literary history. But when you take on the divine, and when you make a scatological assault on the foundations of Western civilization, you’re going up against a pretty distinguished group of opponents. This review will consider how well they do what they ought not do. How good is their naughtiness? (Reviewer pauses to listen, listen, listen, Hmnn, listen, okay . . .) Actually, it’s quite disappointing. If, like me, you’re mildly titillated by the opportunity to critique some really creative blasphemy, you’ll be sad to discover that only the title track falls squarely into that category. And it’s pretty ignorant. Two potent sacrilegious images and a cascade of uninformed impieties. Is this really the best you guys can do? You suck at evil. It’s as if the band got together in a focus group session to consider the question “How can we maximize inanity in marketing anti-Christian shock?” The results are impressive. Musically, this album provides a (very) few good thrash grooves, but it is unrelentingly repetitive. Vocals sound like Alvin and the Chipmunks doing impressions of Ozzy Osbourne. The ambience can be likened to spending 44 minutes watching a screaming clock. 1/5

Ministry’s best record. P69 is an industrial classic that should get more credit for inspiring (for better or worse) a ton of nu metal, too (Rammstein, Rob Zombie, AHC, etc.). I really love this album, it’s got an undeniable intensity and in-your-faceness that’s cheese-tinged in all the right ways – importantly, sans the whole goth element that seemed to seep in elsewhere in the scene at the time (not that I don’t love goth stuff, but this has a whole different flavor from say, Skinny Puppy or NIN). The production is great, super hard hitting drums, thrashy, crunchy guitars (why not lift some Slayer?), great samples, stellar variety in tempo and style, and sequencing that makes this nothing short of binge-able. It’s fuckin’ raw without short changing listeners on all the good stuff. 4.5/5

A distinct departure from the artists that I've been served so far, Ministry is definitely more in my wheelhouse. The post-punk, industrial metal band is familiar to me though I do tend to associate them with the cybergoth, doomcookie, techno-twerking crowd. That said, I'm aware that they have a reputation for being hella smart and socially-concious so I listened to this album with the culural context of 1992 in mind. It didn't disapppoint. It's smart and contextual even if it is a bit on the obvious side as far as commentary goes. That said, the album only has a few tricks in its pocket and wears very thin by the end. It gets docked a point because I felt worn out and more than a little bored by the time I finished the last track.

There are times when I'm pretty sure that "Jesus Built My Hot Rod" is the greatest song of all time, those times are usually whenever I hear it.

Oh my god how do I not know this album??? Fuck YEAH.

To heavy for my tastes, but Jesus stole my hotrod is an absolute banger.

The soundtrack of goth people who shop at hot topic

SO VERY VERY CUNT❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️❗️FIVE STARS NO SKIPS IM OBSESSED. A SIGHT FOR SORE EARS

Brilliant speed and rhythms. A little more separation in the mix for lead guitars wouldn’t have harmed, but still a thrill a minute.

Liked the drumming. The rest was too shouty and shite.

Another formative record from my teens, this is an album that has not been tarnished by time in my ears. Ministry is what I imagined all metal music sounded like to people who didn't listen to a lot of it; fast, cheesy, repetitive, and blasphemous. NWO, Just One Fix, and Hero are still monster tracks to me. Jesus Built My Hotrod is such a stupid, awesome song, and Gibby Haynes' gibberish vocals are always great. Wow; so in TV II, only now after 30 years have I realized Al is saying "connect the goddamn dots" and not "connect the goddamn darts"; lol, yeah, I dunno.

Music to arc-weld by. Which is awesome if you are arc welding. But if not, it can be a bit….much. You’ve really got to be in the mood for this.

Not my everyday cup of tea but gotta respect the skill required to pull that off

Ew 1

Pretty damn good album. I remember when this was released - I bought the CD after seeing Al Jourgenson interviewed by Rikki Rachtman on MTV’s Headbangers Ball. You could tell Al thought Rikki was not as cool as he wanted him to be. Probably the best industrial metal album of all time. Love NWO and Just One Fix - that video featuring William S Burroughs is pretty cool too. The blind pigs at the “1001 albums” keyboard seem to have found an acorn!

The early 90’s were fucking rad. It’s unfortunate a lot of you weren’t around to experience it.

Solid Tikka Masla making music

Ministry is a band I've heard about a lot and Al Jourgensen's iconic look is hard to not notice but I've never listened to their music. You could put a gun to my head and I can't name a single song. This has changed after listening to the album. The opening track "N.W.O" opens strong with a heavy industrial sound and the second song "Just One Fix" amplifies it. The guitar riffs could easily come from a Rammstein album except that this was released 3 years before Rammstein's debut album! Then "TV II" starts playing and changes the direction to some kind of speed metal to my disappointment as the previous two tracks were so good. However the rest of the songs on the album are bangers and it's just "TV II" that was a low point. This is probably an album that doesn't go well with a lot of people. It's a 4/5 for me but there's better industrial metal and definitely better metal albums out there.

I have nothing against Ministry, was just never my thing. The whole industrial gothy metal scene is all a bit much, innit? This album starts strong and stays there. Ministry is legendary at what they do for a reason. Glad I actually sat down and really listened to this one. Now I will know what all my edgy friends with dyed jet black hair are going on about just a little bit better, I suppose.

I don't much about industrial metal, other than this album and NIN were the ones to mainstream the genre, getting already popular metal bands like Anthrax and Megadeth to have their songs industrially remixed, and for industrial bands to rise over the next decade. And honestly I can see why. Before the 90s, industrial music seemed very niche, inaccessible to those not used to raw heavy sound that many consider to be monotonous or just too strange (I'm looking at you Lou Reed). But this combination of metal and industrial took the best of both worlds to create a product that was melodic yet hard, appealing to not only the youthful grunge generation, but also exposing older rock fans to yet another alternative to the samey hard rock and the dirty grunge that predominated rock radio. I really enjoy this album. I always found metal and industrial to both be hard genres for me to get into unless it was poppy like Metallica's black album. But this shift in the early 90s in the realm of metal found new ways to pull in people like me. I only need to hear this album once to appreciate the artistic techniques used in each track. The use of samples and diversity in tricks reminds me much of the genius behind early hip hop.

Went to this one as open-minded as I could. That terrible one-star review at the current third position of this section also motivated me to give Ministry a somewhat benevolent assessment--the individual who wrote said lame "review" obviously had a huge chip on their shoulder because of some of Jourgensen's provocations (which is why they just forgot to talk about the music). Looks like personal religious beliefs can easily lead some folks to become practioners of "bad faith". Oh, the irony. The thing is, for a record with such a "reputation" in the industrial metal genre, said music is admittedly a little uneven at times, and with an overall mixing that feels very "flat" compared to, say, the dynamic sound of Nine Inch Nails albums. One reviewer in here aptly pointed out it's pretty hard to distinguish the different guitars, and I concur. There were ways to create a similar "mechanical" atmosphere without sacrificing said guitar work, or even the potential crushing impact of those rotating-cogwheels-turned-into-"music", which is what Ministry is all about. I get that the band's sound and production choices did improve a lot after their eighties LPs. Yet they didn't improve enough to make it pass the test of time. Add the fact that half of those compositions are second-tier at best, and *ΚΕΦΑΛΗΞΘ* feels like a missed opportunity indeed. Not that some tracks are not worth a detour. "N.W.O." and "Jesus Built My Hotrod" are killer cuts -- fun, moody, zany, topical, nonsensical, dark, driven and repetitive/relentless all at the same time. "Just One Fix" follows that groove efficiently, and "Scare Crow" is yet another interesting animal, an admirable 8-minute metal-ambient-industrial mix I wish I could listen to more when I'm in a foul mood. But the rest is not *really* good, is it? "TV II" is a tongue-in-cheek and *very* thin-sounding parody of death-metal, here rendered practically toothless and harmless. Given that I hate that overall genre, the idea makes me chuckle at least. But I'm not sure this is what Jourgensen intended here... "Hero" is a meat-and-potatoes, quite boring thrash metal cut, with nothing exceptional to it. And "Psalm 69" and "Corrosion" are mostly a messy collage of metal shenanigans (distortion? check ; gated drums? check ; lazy chord sequence? check) and industrial tricks (more vocal samples -- including one of an ecstatic church choir in "Psalm 69", to mock Christians again ; more automatic-mode riffing ; more electronic-sounding drums ; plus the by-now mandatory snippets of sirens / bomb alerts / yelling crowds, etc...) -- a formula that, in here at least, neither rhymes nor reasons, and goes nowhere fast as it turns into endless circles. As a matter of fact, chances are that you will feel short-changed as you get out of this album. The latter indeed ends on two *instrumentals*, with the second, "Grace", being nothing but a self-indulgent brutalist noisy experiment. Which means that side B clearly misses one highlight or a stand-out track to make it worthwhile. A shame Jourgensen didn't think of that when he conceived the tracklisting. It's rather easy to shock bigots and devout fools. But crafting a truly "essential" album that can affect people out of your niche audience is a far harder task, is it not? 3/5 for the purposes of this list. 8/10 for more general purposes (5 for general competency + 2 for the actual assets of the record + 1 for it being a supposedly "relevant" LP in its own metal subgenre) Number of albums left to review: 174 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 361 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 207 (including this one, even if I doubt I will have room for it at the end) Albums from the list I won't include in mine: 262

This didn't date as well for me; it was nice to have it follow on from Metallica, which I thought still held up. This one gave me a more nostalgic vibe for a time when I was younger, more immature, and latched onto this kinds of simplistic angry teen songs. "Jesus built my hot rod" still stands out, though, as a weird and wild bit of sustained, intense nonsense.

not (much) repetitive, not unnecessarily long songs... this is some metal I can get behind

I played it while feeding my baby a bottle. Not a good choice. First track was awesome.

10 years ago,I would have been all over this. Not that it's a bad album, its definitely a hard hitting industrial metal album and set a lot of groundwork but it doesnt make me want to move in the same way as before. Great production overall though,the machine drums and that grinding guitar tone is tight. Would I listen to this again? Maybe,at night,after a long day working,in a metal club, while drinking heavily. 3 stars but more like a 4/10 from me now.

Ministry are a stinky band and this is a stinky record. Not in itself a bad thing, their lack of hygiene, but I counted only a couple of worthwhile rockers. The Butthole Surfers made one record that did the best parts of this better, and with a less dreary aesthetic. I bet Ministry like Giger’s art. Giger sucks!

Jesus Built My Hotrod was an indie disco favorite, and is good for a nostalgic blast. The rest is not my scene at all

Proper mosh pit music. Reminds me of being in Metros, Cardiff. It's not the sort of music I would choose to listen to at home, but played loud in a night club, it's intensity comes across. I hate this style of style of singing and I can't really understand what he is saying. I'm guessing the songs are not about nice things like visiting Grandma or eating ice cream! Production is good mind.

I like a fair bit of early industrial music, but don't know much industrial metal. I have listened to Lard and Revolting Cocks (which were affiliated projects), but never took the time to listen to Ministry. I've sat through this one twice, and I have to say I'm not a huge fan. I respect the fact that they are combining different sounds, but none of it sounds especially invigorating to me. The music and vocals become monotonous, while the spoken word samples are annoying. Checking out a sample of their earlier 1980s stuff, I suspect that might be better (to my ears at least). This 1990s album basically just feels like unexciting heavy metal with a slight industrial palette. 2.5

Not my bag

Not listening to whole thing. Rating: 1.0

I tried. I didn't last very long. Not for me.

I love Industrial music - stuff like TG and Neubauten. This is not what I would call Industrial music - unless we mean the literal definition of 'mechanically produced'. This sounds to me like Heavy Metal for people who think they are too cool to say they like Metal. Give me Black Sabbath or even Napalm Death any day. This is so one-dimensional and lacking in subtlety I gave up after Jesus Built, which sounds like a comedy record. I doubt I missed much.

Just no.

Not for me ! When I started listening my heart sank but actually there were a couple of tracks I liked in the middle, but then it went back to a racket so that was me finished ! 1*

Saw these guys opening for Death Grips and it was the cringiest shit, and that was at a Death Grips concert. Just seems like something I would've loved in elementary school if I was a bit older (not a compliment).

I hate this so much

This album really changed how Ministry would sound going forward. Gone were the new wave synth and vocals. In comes a chain smoking Al Jougerson and heavy drum loops, samples and angry guitar riffs. This is my favorite Ministry album and it's not even close. Song Highlights: Just One Fix Jesus Built My Hot Rod Psalm 69 Grace 5/5

Arguably my favourite super heavy of all time. Great use of all elements.

Every music genre has a record that serves as a great example for starting bands. For the Industrial genre, this record is often cited as prime example and tour de force. The sound is extremely tight, right in your face, and sizzling hard. The samples cut through the wall of guitar violence and hammer-blows on the drums like razors. An overly agitated voice has been added to complete the picture. The album opener "N.W.O." with the Bush quote ("What we are looking at is good and evil. Right and wrong") makes for an intense but still danceable track, "Just One Fix" blasts over it, and "TVII" is hard punk-industrial. With "Jesus Built My Rotrod", rockabilly influences are added, immediately making the song a classic. "Scare Crow" then creates a weighty, sick atmosphere with its slow tempo. The last tracks are more in the direction of noise. Classic.

One of my favorites from my teenage years. Can’t go wrong. If I could give it 4.5 though, I’d dock it for a couple ponderous noise filler tracks. But they don’t seem worth a full point.

Yes! Perfect for a Monday morning.

Undeniable. 5

69 lol

This album is a 4.7 to me, but since I can't do 4.7 and 4 seems criminally low, I'm rating it a 5. There were a few misses for me, but overall, I really enjoyed it. Just One Fix is infectiously good. I listened to that song no less than 7 times yesterday (and an additional 3 today). I would not be surprised if J.O.F. was the inspiration for Rammstein's Du Hast. This album is going in my rotation, and I'll for sure be checking out more Ministry.

Well ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long, this was awesome. 5/5

5/5. This rocks. Heavy Metal Industrial Psychobilly is a new term that I never thought I'd hear but I'm not upset. I can barely understand the lyrics but the riffs are heavy and dope. There aesthetic is immaculate, like being hunted by hillbillies in the woods, maybe even eldritch horrors as well. A more appropriate feeling of the Appalachian horrors. Just cool stuff, love to see the metal representation in this list. Best Song: Jesus Built My Hotrod, Scare Crow, N.W.O.

One of the most badass albums of the ‘90s. N.W.O., Just One Fix, and Hero are pure workout fuel.

Sometimes all you need is an album to repeatedly punch you in the face. This is that album.

I have been a fan of Jesus Built My Hotrod since it came out. I bought the single. This was the first listen of the album for me, and although I would not classify the genre as one of my favorites, there is something that does draw me to Ministry.

Hot on the heels of The Offspring (whom I called too noisy, shouty, and sweaty — autocorrected from sweary) we get more noisy shouty swearing from Ministry. But I’ve got a big soft spot for Jesus Built My Hotrod because my bestie and I got kind of obsessed with it back in the day. I don’t think I ever listened to the whole album but I like its energy.

Really thought I would hate this album based on a vague memory of Ministry. Lo and behold, I love this! Some great industrial metal that I never paid attention to in the 90s but is very appealing to me now.

Oh fuck yeah!! I'm so happy this is one of the 1001 albums you need to listen to before you die! LOVE LOVE LOVE this album. Oh man, I remember when i first bought this cd living with grandma and aweome it made me feel when I would jam out to it while lifting weights. I still get that same energy now after all these years. 10 stars!

Awesome! Hard rocking, I really enjoyed this. Not sure I’d go much longer than this length though, got a bit fatiguing by the end. Brand new but a new fave, 4.5/5

Is this what church is like?

It doesn’t sound quite as scary as it used to, but it’s every bit as bombastic, and still completely enjoyable. Many followers owe so much to this album, and I think it still sounds better than any of ‘em. Dance metal! Ya gotta be crazy to make that work.

Does not get better than this. industrial genre defining

A classic

Top tier sewer dweller music

cool

Perfect blasphemous album for Good Friday. 10/10.

I really love this album. The opener is great. I like that they are all in when it comes to making a very heavy album, but they do not create simple concrete chunks of music, the songs have a beautiful use of aggressive rhythm that still feels human enough to encourage me to bounce along. The crunch of guitars have a really nice punch as well. they also dabble in different styles of metal so the album is a bit of an adventure as well.

Turns out that I love Ministry. I might have to buy some new outfits

I really don't even have to listen to this to know what I'm going to rate it... But I'll still listen to it at top volume! I love this album. So much nostalgia on this one. Ministry was my first or second concert back in the mid-90s. I was lucky enough to see Al play right after covid ended.

i really liked it!

Soon I discovered that this rock thing was true Jerry Lee Lewis was the devil Jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet All of a sudden, I found myself in love with the world So there was only one thing that I could do Was ding a ding dang my dang a long ling long Nobody with a good car needs to worry about nothin', do you understand? Nobody with a good car needs to be justified. I come a long way since I believed in anything, and I come halfway around the world. 5/5

Cracking stuff.

this gets the blood pumpin'

I had Ministry pegged as synth-pop-industrial-goth-metal-hardcore and they weren't ever really on my radar as a band to listen to. This album is probably the only one from their long career that is going to tick boxes for me, but it manages to tick a LOT of boxes. Turns out I actually did know of Jesus built my Hotrod, but I didn't think it was by Ministry. I spent the last 30 years or so thinking it was a Butthole Surfers track instead. The whole album sounds like it could have been outtakes from Slayer from the mid 90s to early 2000s, but tracks they may have considered too humorous to have used, and mixed with Zodiac Mindwarp. I liked the humour and I really liked the speed/ thrash/ industrial metal vibes I got from this. I often don't like an album much on the first playthrough, but I loved this from the get go. Then I listened to it a second time and it seemed like a very different album. I feel torn giving this 5 stars, but it really seems too good for a 4 star rating.

An absolute classic of everything dark and hard. „Jesus built my hot rod“ is still a huge hit!

Jesus built my mfin hotrod 🔥

It's a great album that I have not listened to since the '90s. I forgot how much I enjoyed it.

Incredible album, one of my favorites ever.

Awesome album. Kind of cringey themes but the music is sick.

Menee jatkoon, tulee kuunneltua tulevaisuudessakin. KMFDM-fibat vahvoja.

4 stars but an extra for being fundamental in shaping the awesomeness that is my husband :)

LOVED Connect the goddam dots in TV II, especially the fake out. Scare Crow might be my new favorite song. Psalm 69- omg but also HELL YES Grace- I’m obsessed with the way the screams go from one ear to another. My one criticism is things get a little repetitive but I love so much about this album they can have it.

Hella cool, ground breaking

Loved it since it came out.

Noise and metal and scream and grunge and metal and noise and static and loud and scratch and thrash and words and metal and bang and loud and crap

Brutal, memorable and strangely commercial. I love this and the previous two Ministry albums

love it

Fuck the establishment. No notes.

Big fan, love this album, no favourite tracks, it's all good.

An automatic 5 from me - I've loved Ministry in general and this album in particular since my teens. (Though I reckon "Filth Pig" edges it out for the title of fave album) I love the brutal battery of the fast songs, I love the portentous atmosphere of the slow songs, I love the incorporation of samples and Gibby Hayes glossolalia, I love it all! Fave track - "N.W.O." or "Just One Fix" or "TV II" or "Jesus Built My Hotrod" from the fast category, "Scarecrow" from the slow category...

Influenced Rob Zombie?

so much stronger than i remember, this is actually downright classic; almost as good as The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste.

Intensely textural

Awesome. Powerful metal

Para ser la primera vez que escucho a esta banda, estuvo piola 10/10

Another favorite of mine. Masterpiece of industrial metal.

One of earliest industrial metal albums I've heared. Perfect!

These guys sound ahead of their time

TOO YOUNG TO DIE

Distorted, Exhausting, Powerful, Oppressive, Industrial.

awesome

omfg yes

Wow. Thought I was going to hate this as ' Industrial Metal" does not appeal to me. However after after 2 days of hair/cock rock this was quite refreshing. Impressive. Have a 4